Stafford Joel Spicer, 59, was apprehended by Los Angeles County cold-case sheriff's homicide investigators in Las Vegas, where he was living.

Authorities said Spicer was served with an arrest warrant at his home in connection with the killing of Joanne Marie Jones, who was 23 when she disappeared April 29, 1985. Her body was found in June of that year in a remote area of Azusa Canyon east of Highway 39.

At the time, Spicer was arrested by Long Beach police after he was spotted driving Jones' Chevrolet Camaro. He was later released for lack of evidence, the Sheriff's Department said.

The case was reopened in 2009 by the department's cold-case unit, which uncovered new DNA evidence, according to authorities.

The unit's motto is "Time is on our side," Capt. Mike Parker said. "Homicide cases," he said, "are never closed until they are solved."